Click, whirrrrr . . . kill?

Have you seen this guy?

(photo from www.dailymail.co.uk)

His name is Ishiguro Hiroshi, and he is one of Japan's leading robotics experts. I have a sneaking suspicion that being a leading expert of robotics in Japan automatically gives that person the world title. In this photo, he has his arm around his android counterpart creation. This android has been designed by Ishiguro to respond to and mimic human behavior. I know more than a few people who would feel unsettled just looking at this picture. I know I am speaking in generalities, but it really doesn't seem like the Japanese get the same uncomfortable feelings toward robots.

I recently saw an episode of Vanguard called "Japan: Robot Nation," in which the observation was made that Japan has a very comfortable relationship with robots. This was partially attributed to the Japanese cultural trait of attributing personality to inanimate objects. Some allusions to Japanese pop culture was also made that I think have a lot to do with it. After all, look at these guys:

I am not thinking about all of this because of the Japanese, though; they are merely a source of comparison. No, it's on my mind because of the discomfort I have witnessed in Americans toward the same things that are getting Japan so excited. Again, I know I am speaking in generalities, but it appears to me that the USA, despite being a technologically-integrated society, still harbors some cultural technophobia. I've experienced this in conversations about things like the androids Ishiguro Hiroshi has created, as well as in the feelings of some of the teachers who I've trained to use classroom interactive technology.

For the last few months, this has been my primary occupation. I've noticed an interesting spectrum of interest from training participants:

1. excitement about the new opportunities this technology affords teachers

2. anxiety about learning to use the technology

and, on the radical other end of the spectrum,

3. fear about the unknown.

There have only been a few of that last group, but they are the most vocal and irrational. Recently, I had a teacher continuously interrupt my presentation in order to express how this is just the start of a dehumanizing of society. This was not just one time, this was several, and there was real fear in those words. This fear stemmed from a complete misunderstanding of what knowledge I was attempting to impart, and, as the training continued, it was clear that nothing was getting through to that teacher.

But right now even that is not what got me thinking about this subject. No, what got me thinking about it right now is something that just happened to while sitting in a coffee shop. I have the January 2010 issue of National Geographic with me. The cover story is entitled "Merging Man and Machine: The Bionic Age." I encourage anyone to check the article out. The cover itself is a close-up of a bionic prosthetic arm. I had actually finished the article a couple of days ago, but the cover caught the eye of a woman at the table next to mine.

"What is that all about," she asked, indicating the cover of my magazine.

"Oh, they talk to all these people who have had accidents and received bionic body parts."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing actually. They actually connect the bionic parts to nerve endings, so people control their mechanical parts by thinking about their actions, just like with regular limbs."

"They can do that?"

"I guess so. It's still experimental. The article says it's changed their lives, though."

"I don't know, that seems real creepy to me. I don't think I like that at all."

I don't really think I gave a response to that, but for some reason it surprised me. I think the things in that article are extremely exciting. One quadriplegic man was able to feed himself for the first time in 15 years. Another woman who lost her arm in an accident can make a sandwich just as if she had both hands, controlling her bionic limb with brain impulses. The quality of life for both these people has been dramatically improved with the development of this technology, yet it causes apprehension in some people. Is this the same as the fear that I've seed in my trainings or the discomfort with Ishiguro's androids? I have no idea, but it makes me very curious. I wonder about American technophobia and whether or not pop culture plays a part in this, as well. Compare the earlier Japanese robot icons with some American ones:

Hal 9000

Maybe all of these observations are totally unfounded, but I think it's worth talking about a little bit. Whatever our feelings, from excitement to apprehension, about technology, there is no getting around how quickly and completely it is changing the way we live and the way we grow. Hopefully, we can adapt to a changing world without letting fear cripple us.

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